Page 102 of Heartbeat Girl

Chapter Thirty-Four

JAYNE

Ibolted upright when a hand touched my shoulder. My hand went to my neck. I winced at the soreness. What… Like clockwork, my eyes traveled over the giant arm and even bigger chest beside me. I shuffled away from the vampire on the bed with me, taking the sheet with me. I recognized him from Larissa’s group. Glancing toward the hallway, I searched for Liam and Steve’s body. My heart hurt when I didn’t see them lying on the floor.

“Are you okay?” the man asked. “I tried to give you time to process, but we need to get moving.”

I blinked back the tears threatening to spill again. I thought Pete killed me. The last thing I remembered was his fist closing in. “Pete…” My voice trembled. I took a deep breath. “Where are they?”

“Is Pete the one that did this?” He pointed to my neck.

I nodded, then lowered my head. “I don’t get it. He doesn’t have a mean bone in his body, so why did he hit me? And where are Liam and Steve?” I stood quickly, still clutching the sheet around me.

“We’ve got someone tailing them,” the man said. “Your Pete is under the influence of his sire. He loaded the other two into a white Pontiac and left. Do you now understand why you need Larissa’s help?”

“You let Pete take them?” I screeched. “Their sire will kill them for what they’ve done to her if Pete wakes her!”

“She’ll punish them,” he said with a sigh. “Larissa tried to help them, and they wouldn’t take it. Now, it has to happen this way.”

I narrowed my eyes. “What has to happen?”

“Pete will lead us to Marilyn. Boom. Job over.”

“Job over? What about Liam, Steve, and Pete? Pete didn’t kill me. That has to mean something.”

The vampire frowned for a moment before he exhaled and picked up a cloth from the bed. “I can’t imagine Marilyn would allow you to live after everything she must know, so why did Pete use chloroform on you and leave you behind? If she didn’t want you dead, she would have wanted you there.”

Fear, hurt, and anger coursed through me at the vampire’s words. Marilyn had the power to force someone even while under a sleeping spell? No one but me saw Pete’s tears and felt their coldness hit my cheek. No one knew all the things I did about my vampires. They wouldn’t betray each other. They wouldn’t hurt me… Even if I had died by Pete’s hands, I wouldn’t have blamed him.

“Then why didn’t Pete take me or kill me?” I asked the vampire.

“That is the million-dollar question, and why I’m so curious.” His dark eyes roamed over me strangely. “You have thirty seconds to dress, then we’re leaving. Larissa is waiting.”

I dressed quickly and followed him. Toward the front of the bus, blocking the doorway, was a jarring sight. I covered my mouth to hold back the scream. My entire body tensed, then shook violently as I looked down at the dead body of our driver, Chris.

“He’s the first of many if anyone gets in Pete’s way. Marilyn will drive him mad until he’s found her. We’ll fix this mess. Let’s hope there are no more.”

I barely spoke to Chris, but my vampires did. They didn’t want to hurt people. What must Pete be thinking right now?

“It’s just Pete then?” I stepped over Chris’s body. The vampire offered his hand to me as I stepped off the bus, but I didn’t take it.

“That seems to be the case or he wouldn’t have had to render his bandmates unconscious, but you need to prepare yourself. In the presence of their sire, her control isabsolute. Your vampires won’t be able to deny her.”

“You thought the same thing about Pete killing me and were wrong,” I stated.

“It shouldn’t be possible,” the vampire corrected himself. “For all we know, she might not care about you. If that’s the case, then it would make sense for him to leave you behind.”

But why knock me out?

A black SUV pulled up in front of us. The vampire opened the door and gestured for me to get inside. I saw Larissa’s tight black pants first as I slid in. The male vampire urged me to scoot to the middle so he could get in. The second the door closed, the driver sped off.

“I need to save them,” I said.

She leaned closer. “Then you know what you must do.”

I swallowed hard. “I do.”

She shook her head and smiled. “Your boys are proving bonds can be tested, Jayne.”